In the field of multiple speed drive systems or units which are commonly used for driving equipment such as material handling equipment or workpiece transfer equipment or equipment for advancing and retracting a machine tool component, Reuland Electric Company of Howell, Mich. manufactures different models or units which are sold under the trademark REULAND. Another form of multiple or two-speed motor drive unit is manufactured in West Germany and sold in the United States by the Mannesmann Demag Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio under the trademark DEMAG. Commonly, such drive units have the same general construction and include a high speed or main electric motor and a slow speed electric motor-gear reducer unit which are coupled together through a clutch. In the REULAND drive, the clutch comprises an electro-magnetic friction clutch, and in the DEMAG drive, the friction clutch is actuated by axial movement of the high speed motor shaft when the high speed motor is deenergized. In the REULAND drive, the output shaft of the main drive motor is braked by actuation of an electromagnetic friction brake surrounding the motor output shaft. In the DEMAG drive, the main motor output shaft is braked by actuating a brake surrounding the shaft of the slow speed drive motor and by also actuating the clutch which couples the high speed motor shaft to the slow speed motor-gear reducer unit.
For many applications of a two-speed motor drive unit, it has been found desirable to provide for continuous operation of the slow speed motor-gear reducer unit to obtain rapid cycling of the drive, and to provide for an extended operational life of the drive without requiring adjustment or disassembly to replace parts. It is also desirable to avoid transmission of the braking torque for the high speed motor shaft through the gear reducer unit and to provide for effective dissipation of the friction heat generated when the brake and clutch are actuated. It has also been found desirable for the drive unit to provide means for adjusting the torque applied through the brake to the high speed motor shaft as well as adjustment of the torque which is transferred through the clutch from the slow speed motor-gear reducer unit to the shaft of the high speed motor. In addition, it is highly desirable for a two-speed drive unit to be totally enclosed, especially when used in applications or on machinery where liquid such as a coolant or water splashes onto the drive unit. After carefully analyzing the commercially available two-speed drive units mentioned above, it is apparent that neither of the drive units provide all of the features desired on a multiple speed drive unit.